Some Archery-Only Areas Not Open During December

Archery-only deer hunters: Some hunting areas are not open during December nonpermit-tag hunts.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department wants to remind archery-only deer hunters with over-the-counter permits there are a number of Game Management Units that are not open hunting areas for the 2008 December hunt, as in past years.

Game Management Units 17A, 20A, 22, 23, 37A and 42 are not included in the December 2008 archery-only season. These units will not be open until the Jan. 1-31, 2009 season.

Archery-only deer hunters are reminded to thoroughly review the 2008 Arizona Hunting and Trapping Regulations before taking to the field for their deer hunt.

A 2009 general hunting license is also required to hunt beginning Jan. 1, 2009.

Harvest percentages are the reason for the structure change. In units where the archery harvest exceeded 20 percent of the overall take, the seasons have been shortened, or in some cases, they have become part of the draw system.

The reason for this change is to allocate the harvest among deer hunters in proportion to the demand for that weapon choice.

In some management units, the harvest proportion for certain weapon types exceeded the demand.

The same system applies for units where the harvest is less than 10 percent of the total harvest. In those cases, the season was extended. Game Management Units 4A, 4B, 8, 9 and 19A benefitted from this and will see a new season from Jan. 1-16, 2009 for over-the-counter archery-only deer hunters.

The 2008-09 Arizona Hunting and Trapping Regulations can be viewed or downloaded from www.azgfd.gov/rules.

Also, successful hunters are encouraged to participate in the monitoring for chronic wasting disease (CWD).

Hunters can assist the monitoring effort by bringing in the head of their recently harvested deer or elk to any Game and Fish Department office between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Place the head in a heavy plastic garbage bag for delivery, and keep it cool and out of the sun. If the weather is warm, it is best to either bring in the head within a day of harvest or keep it on ice in a cooler before delivery.

For more information about CWD, visit www.azgfd.gov/cwd or www.cwd-info.